Embrace Jesus<br/><br/>

Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan was arrested by the Vietnam Communist Government in the year 1975 and imprisoned for thirteen years, of which he spent nine years in solitary isolation. At that time, he had just been relocated from Diocese of Nha Trang to serve as Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Saigon. He was finally released in 1991. Since then he worked in Rome, and he was eventually ordained as Archbishop. He passed away earlier this year. Cardinal Thuan shared with us in his testimony at the World Youth Day held in Paris in 1997 about how he prayed during his imprisonment.<br/><br/>

“Although I had a lot of time to pray, it was great exertion because of my weak health. However, I was comforted by a story that I remember from childhood: An old man named Jim went to church everyday to pray for two minutes. One day the sacristan asked him what kind of prayer he says. Jim answered, “Jesus, here Jim.” When Jim was eventually admitted into hospital with serous illness, others were intrigued by his happiness, but he replied, “Jesus comes every day and says to me, ‘Jim, here Jesus!’”<br/><br/>

“To celebrate mass every day, I put three drops of wine, a drop of water and a small piece of host in the palm of my hand. I kept the rest of the Communion in my coat pocket so I could always celebrate the Blessed Sacrament. The wine was sent to me by the faithful in small bottles labeled as stomach medicine.”<br/><br/>

May we all cherish our divine gifts of health and freedom, and use it well to embrace the resurrected Jesus.